Since the first launch in 1981, The Space Shuttle program has been a symbol of American 20th-century leadership.  Soon, it will be a bygone era.

I have spent the past three years photographing scenes few witness.

In the simplest terms, I hope these photographs tell a story of the work of men and women who came to work every day to launch spaceships. By doing their jobs well, these workers - from much-hailed astronauts to Harley-riding technicians - made the extraordinary task of spaceflight seem mundane.

Of course, this work was anything but ordinary.  It was risky business, undertaken in the pursuit of knowledge and scientific advancement.  Unfortunately, there have been tragic endings.  Like the intrepid explorers for centuries before them, astronauts have lost their lives looking over the horizon at what lies beyond.

These photographs are my incomplete memorial to their achievements.  I hope this work can serve as a partial archive, as a tribute to the men and women who spent their lives making spaceflight a daily activity.  In looking back, we can look ahead to find the next adventure on that distant horizon.